Legacy
by Sri Starlz
Summary: Phoenix Wizard's eighteenth birthday is just two days away, and he expects a fun celebration at his cousin Jonah's. But when he finds a mysterious girl hanging from a broken ceiling fan at the airport, he is thrown into a whole new type of Clue Hunt- except this time, it's Cahills against Cahills. T for mild swearing.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey! Sri here :D**

**I know I shouldn't be starting another story at this point, especially considering the rate I update at- but I had two interesting dreams, both about the Cahills, last night :O This is just the result of one of them. I'm going to post the first few chapters all at once, to make up for not updating, so no boring A/Ns in between xD **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the 39 Clues... even though I dream about them sometimes... XP**

Chapter 1 - Unexpected

One humid July day, people departing from Los Angeles International Airport observed a tall, handsome, official-looking teen walking briskly through security with a suitcase in hand. He stopped briefly at the luggage pick-up area to grab a brown shoulder bag- the luggage, for once, was there before passengers came to pick them up- and continued on his way out.

Phoenix Wizard's eighteenth birthday was just two days away. He was returning from Italy, where he'd been sent to take care of Janus disputes, to his cousin Jonah's place. He thought of his upcoming birthday and of the Clue-hunt Cahills, who would be there to help celebrate, as he waited impatiently for his limo to show up.

Suddenly, from deeper inside the airport, he heard yells and gasps. A crowd was gathering at the exit. Curiously, Phoenix moved closer.

Over the tops of people's heads, he spotted a weird-looking contraption, which looked like a broken chair and a ceiling fan attached, hovering about eleven feet in the air. As it moved higher, he saw that there was someone clinging on to it- a girl, maybe fifteen or sixteen.

"Hey, you!" Airport security officials were everywhere in the crowd. They parted the people to make enough space for the girl to come down just below where she was hovering. "Come down here _at once_."

"No!" Her voice was thin, and it suited her pale face, long black braids and extremely slim build. She looked Asian, probably Japanese or Korean.

Phoenix decided she had to be a Cahill. Almost no one else was capable of causing all that chaos, escaping from airport security in apparently, an on-the-spot invention. If so, it was up to him to get her to the CC in Boston and learn her branch.

He pushed through the mass of people watching to the man who looked like the Chief of the airport officials and flashed the Cahill coat-of-arms imprinted into his coat at the man. Most important people had some connection to the Cahills.

This guy was no exception. "Yes, sir?"

Phoenix hissed, "Probably a Cahill. I'll take her to the CC."

"Oh, of course. We just need to get her down first- that thing could collapse at any time."

"Let me try." Phoenix moved forward, into the space under the girl. "Um, hey..."

The girl looked at him, her huge black eyes nervous, but not completely afraid.

"Listen to me. We won't harm you. I know why you're here, and I can help you with it. But you need to come down on the floor first... that machine could fail at any time." Phoenix tried to make his voice as calming as possible.

The only sounds were the gentle hum of the whirring ceiling fan the girl was hanging on to and the breathing of all the people watching.

The girl stared at him. "Y-you know what I'm here for?"

"...Not quite," Phoenix said. "You can tell me the details, but I know the basics. Come down, and we can talk safer."

The girl hesitated, then reached up and poked a small stick into the fan, which slowly stopped whirring, bringing her down gently. Phoenix took her arm, nodded to the officer, and led her out of the airport. Behind him, he heard airport officials shooing away the people and bribing the media to not publicize the story.

He opened the door of the waiting limo for the girl and climbed in after her.

Once they were comfortably seated and on their way to Jonah's mansion-like house, Phoenix decided to introduce himself and get to know her a bit. "I'm Phoenix Wizard, and I'm a Janus. You are...?"

"A Janus?" Her eyes widened. "No!"

She got up immediately and stumbled in the moving limo, towards the door. Phoenix grabbed her arm. "Wait! All the branches are at peace now."

She paused and turned to look at him slowly. "What..."

"Sit down. You might hurt yourself." Phoenix gestured to the seat, and she sank down slowly.

"Okey-dokey, let's start with the basics. Your name?"

The girl hesitated and fixed her big eyes on him. He waited, almost impatiently. Just when he thought she wasn't going to give away anything, she spoke.

"Kristina Oh."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 - Explanations

Phoenix recoiled in shock. Kristina Oh.

_Oh._

He closed his eyes and tried to regain his composure. "Oh? Kristina Oh?"

Kristina nodded. "Yes... why?" Suddenly she seemed to understand. "Oh, I suppose you knew my late father, Alistair Oh."

"Y-Yes, I did." Phoenix closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing.

_My late father, Alistair Oh._

Phoenix recalled the old man from his time when the Vespers had captured them both, along with five other people, to hold as hostages. He shuddered as he remembered that time. All of them had finally escaped alive, but Alistair had almost died, and been quite infirm ever since. The Ekats had held a huge funeral for him recently, at his passing away.

Kristina stared at him. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Phoenix opened his eyes. "Okey-dokey, let's start with the basics. How much do you know about the Cahills?"

"A lot." She smiled for the first time. "My father told me a lot about us and our background. I wanted to accompany him on the clue hunt, but he wouldn't let me. And he did tell me all the branches were at peace, but some of the Ekats I was around never quite believed that. They were always bad-mouthing the other branches. That's why I was apprehensive of you when you told me you're Janus."

Phoenix nodded. "Okay, but... you do know nobody outside of the Ekats you saw knows about you. That you even exist."

He took a deep breath. "Alistair never told us he had a daughter."

Kristina nodded. "Yes. There's a reason behind it."

"Oh... I see. Well, we won't talk about it here. We'll wait till we get to Jonah's- my cousin's house. It'll be more private there. Don't worry, he'll understand," Phoenix assured her. "And his house is certainly big enough. Meanwhile, tell me how you ended up in that situation at the airport."

Kristina smiled slightly. "I snuck onto a flight in Seoul that took me to Cairo, another one to Croatia, and then one that I thought would go to New York. All Ekat strongholds. But apparently I boarded an LA flight instead... the only place I got caught at sneaking off the plane was here. I was pretty flustered to find myself in Los Angeles, and I think I gasped or something, and a guy who was working at unloading the baggage caught me." She frowned.

"Wow. Do you have Lucian blood?"

"Yes, from my mother's side. I never knew her- she died when I was very young- but my father told me things about her. She was Lucian, but married my father, an Ekat. I'm of mixed blood, and I can do things that prove I'm both."

Phoenix nodded. "That contraption you built was pretty genius."

Kristina smiled shyly. "Thanks. I was sitting in this high-ceilinged room, waiting for someone to come interrogate me. I saw a broken ceiling fan and a broken chair lying nearby- the room was really messy- and I had a bunch of thick rope in my pocket. Took me four minutes." She grinned proudly.

"Cool. Probably a daughter of Hephaestus as well," Phoenix joked. Kristina laughed.

Just then, the limo turned into the long driveway of Jonah's "house". Kristina looked out the windows in wonder. "_This_ is where your cousin lives?"

Phoenix grinned. "Yep. He's the famous rapper, Jonah Wizard."

"Jonah Wizard? Cool, I listened to a couple of his songs. I was never too infatuated with them, though..." Kristina smiled.

The limo pulled up to the front steps. Phoenix hopped out and climbed the steps to the porch, waiting for Kristina.

The door opened and Jonah stood there, beaming at his younger cousin. Though they were four years apart and Jonah's career deemed him almost always busy, the cousins were close. Jonah often took Phoenix to the parties he attended, and Phoenix performed sometimes alongside his cousin- no singing, just guitar accompaniments and the like. Phoenix adored his older cousin and considered him his own brother.

After exchanging greetings and 'how are you's, Phoenix gestured to the limo. "Found a Cahill at the airport with an interesting background. We'll have to introduce her to the rest. Apparently, she's on some kind of mission. Wait, she'll talk to you herself."

He turned back to the limo. "Kristina?"

No answer.

Phoenix started to get a bit worried. It had been more than a minute since he'd left the limo. Why was Kristina taking so long?

"Kristina?!" he called again, louder, traces of panic in his voice.

Still no answer. Phoenix jumped off the porch and ran to the limo, Jonah at his heels. The younger Wizard pulled open the door and peered in.

Kristina lay slumped across the seat, unconscious.

Phoenix climbed in all the way and Jonah came in after him. "What-" Jonah let out a breath sharply and looked into the driver's seat.

No driver there.

"I knew I should've fired him when he refused to play my songs in his car."

The joke didn't help ease the tension. Phoenix bent over Kristina, about to carry her into the house, when he noticed a tiny yellow bobby-pin attached to the collar of her blue woolen sweater. There was a piece of paper it was holding down.

Hands shaking, Phoenix pulled off the note and held it up so Jonah could see it. Then he read it.

**This is the last warning. The Ekat legacy will be ours.**

**_~T_**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 - Mysteries

Phoenix wrapped both the note and the bobby-pin in some tissue paper he happened to have in his pocket. Then, together, he and Jonah lifted Kristina and carried her into the house.

Jonah led the way toward one of the many living rooms in the house, and they gently set her down on the sofa. Jonah picked up a glass of water from a nearby table, poured some into his palm and sprinkled it on her face.

There was no response. Not even a twitch.

Phoenix lifted Kristina's wrist and checked for a pulse. Already, it was very slow. He told Jonah, who nodded.

"I know an excellent doctor in the area who's part Lucian. He'll be here soon." Jonah left the room.

Phoenix sat down on the floor beside Kristina and thought. T? They had to be people who knew about the Cahills, and apparently wanted the Ekat legacy, whatever that was. But why attack Kristina for that?

He turned to look at the girl, and for the first time, noticed a small cloth bag fastened to one of the belt loops of her jeans. He realized she'd always had her hand or her sweater covering it, so nobody would see it. Gently, he untied it from the belt loop and examined it without opening it.

It was yellow, of course- the color of the Ekat branch. It was a little longer than his palm, with strings at the end to pull to close the opening. At first glance, Phoenix didn't see any visible markings on it. Then his fingers brushed something just under the wrinkles caused by pulling the strings.

The rest of the bag was velvet, but this part felt like glass embedded in. Phoenix looked at it closely. He barely made out the Cahill coat of arms on a background of dark glass, with the dragon a bit larger than the others.

And right next to it, so small that he had to put his eye right up against it, was a **T**.

It had been engraved into the glass finely, and the grooves were painted orange, making it hard to see against the glaring yellow of the cloth.

Suddenly, Phoenix heard footsteps outside in the hall and quickly replaced the bag, awkwardly tucking it a bit under her sweater. He straightened up just as Jonah and another man appeared.

The newcomer was tall, with long sandy hair pulled back into a ponytail. He was dressed, unlike most other doctors, in a suit. His face could be considered handsome, although Phoenix's first thought was that this man was a rough dealer. The man carried a suitcase, which he put down next to the sofa as he bent over Kristina.

"This is Dr. Loven," Jonah said quietly to Phoenix, who nodded. They both watched the doctor work.

First, he checked her pulse; then, he put one of his hands on her neck and touched a spot. He motioned the watching cousins over. "There. That's where she was injected."

They looked closely and saw a small black dot on her neck. At first glance it looked like a birthmark, but they realized it was the poison's entrance into Kristina's system.

Dr. Loven took a small blood sample and pressed a cotton ball to the place where Kristina had been injected. He looked at the cotton, and narrowed his eyes. "Ah. This is probably what I think it is. I'll have the blood sample tested to make sure."

Jonah nodded slowly. "Alright, Doctor. What do we do for her- I mean, does she need an antidote or something?"

Dr. Loven nodded. "It needs to be administered at regular times during the day for about a week. But I can't be here everyday at those times- I've got other patients to take care of. And I'm afraid I can't trust you with such potent poisons- oh, I know you'll be careful, but even a tiny slip of the hand could result in death for the patient." He looked at Jonah. "Do you know any Lucians who would be willing to come and act as nurses?"

Jonah and Phoenix glanced at each other, the same thought occurring to both of them.

"Ian and Natalie."

* * *

Amy looked up in annoyance as "Monster Mash" started to play somewhere in the house. Then she realized it was the telephone- Dan had changed the ringtone, somehow.

_"He did the mash, he did the _monster _mash..." _

Amy sighed and dragged herself off the couch to the phone. She pulled the receiver off the cradle and held it to her ear. "Hello?"

"Hello? Amy, this is Phoenix."

"Oh, hi. What's up?"

"Something's happened- I don't want to talk about it over the phone. Instead of flying here day after tomorrow, we need y'all to get here as soon as possible. If you can't get here that quickly, send at least Ian and Natalie ahead, please."

Amy wondered what was up, but agreed quickly. "Alright. We'll all be there in eight hours. If we can't, at least Ian and Natalie will be there."

"Thanks, Amy. Bye."

"Bye." Amy replaced the receiver and turned around to find Ian leaning against the wall near the door of the living room.

"You just promised Natalie and me to someone in eight hours. May I ask who, where and why?" Ian inquired, the ghost of a smirk on his face.

Amy shrugged. "That was Phoenix. He sounded serious, and he said something was up- I don't know what, he wouldn't specify. He said he needed us all over there ASAP, or if not _all, _then at least you and Natalie."

"I see. So how do we get there? I don't believe your private jet is repaired yet."

"Nope. We're going by public plane." Amy smirked at Ian's expression. "And you'll just have to suck it up, Ian."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 - Information

"If this is a bloody joke, I swear..." Natalie growled, fingering the dart gun at her hip.

Amy shook her head. "No, Natalie, I'm pretty sure it's not. Phoenix sounded serious. Anyway, why would he ask for just you two to come ahead if it was a joke?"

"To annoy us," Natalie returned stiffly. "We'd look like fools, arriving before everyone else and sitting there two days while waiting for everyone."

Dan chuckled. "Don't tell me you'd rather stay here. No Daniel Arthur Cahill over there, you know."

"More's the pity," Natalie returned sarcastically, glaring at Dan.

Amy walked to the door in annoyance. "Where _is _Ian?! I should've never let him leave the house an hour before you two leave for the airport."

"He shut himself up in his room with the phone before he left, too..." Natalie mused. She smirked. "I think I know what he's doing."

Just then, her brother walked into the room, grinning. He smirked at Amy. "Pack your bags, Cahills. We're all going to Los Angeles by private jet."

Amy's eyes narrowed. "How..."

"Let's just say I talked to your mechanic, and the phrases "extra payment" and "if finished today" were in the conversation." Ian's smirk got wider.

"Sweet!" Dan yelled, running up the stairs. "Los Angeles, here I come!"

"Oh, and we're stopping on the way to pick up the Starlings and the Holts," Ian added.

Amy glared at him before turning and stomping up the stairs.

* * *

It was kinda funny how pretty much all the Cahills' expressions were the same when they walked into the living room and saw the unconscious girl on the couch, Phoenix thought. Their eyes had widened, but nobody asked any questions, not even Dan. They all just quietly took seats on the other sofas and waited for the explanation.

Phoenix stood up nervously. "Hi," he said quietly.

A chorus of "Hey"s and "Hello"s answered him. He looked at them, trying to decide on how to start.

Phoenix told them about the airport scene first. Just as he was getting to whatever she had told him in the limo, Natalie stood up. "Wait."

She walked quietly to a window, pulling her dart gun out, and crouched. Everyone waited expectantly. She flung open the window suddenly and shot to the ground.

There was a movement outside, and a _thump. _"Got him."

All the Cahills except Phoenix and Dan jumped up and ran outside, led by Jonah and the Holts. The two boys stayed back to guard Kristina by silent agreement, in case somebody else came. The rest went around to the side of the mansion and looked at the ground outside the window.

No one was there.

Sinead noticed a slight rustle among the trees in the wood some hundred yards away, and started sprinting towards it. The rest followed quickly, Hamilton soon taking the lead. They entered the woods and had to slow down, fighting their way through hanging branches and thick roots. Hamilton spied a clearing ahead and sped up.

He burst out of the trees and stopped in dismay. Everyone else followed, only to see a road and a car driving away, already too far ahead for them to even see the license plate. Hamilton shook his head. "I can't follow that thing."

"He got away because his friend carried him to the car, but he'll sure have a hard time getting that poison out of his system," Natalie said, grimly satisfied.

Amy nodded, realizing they'd made a mistake by leaving the unconscious girl in the house with no one but Phoenix and Dan. "Let's get back. I want to make sure Phoenix and Dan are alright."

They made their way quickly to the house and ran to the living room.

Phoenix and Dan were in opposite corners, slumped over, unconscious.

They were gagged, and their hands and feet were bound with thick white rope. Amy gave a strangled gasp and rushed over to her brother, quickly unbinding him and checking his pulse. It was slow- very slow.

Jonah did the same to Phoenix. "I'll get the Lucian doctor."

Ian helped Amy carry Dan to the nearest sofa, and Hamilton laid Phoenix down on another. They waited for the doctor. Meanwhile, Natalie did the same cotton-ball test the Dr. Loven had done on Kristina on Dan's neck wound. She showed the poison to Ian, and they came to an agreement quickly.

"We don't think this poison will last too long. The doctor should have an antidote for it, which, when administered once, will let the victim wake up and move around a bit in an hour," Ian announced.

Just then, Dr. Loven walked in and sighed when he saw the two unconscious boys. "Mr. Wizard, I suggest you employ security guards for your house. Either the police or your own Cahill contacts."

Jonah nodded grimly. Dr. Loven did the same tests on both boys as he had done on Kristina, and pronounced Ian and Natalie's verdict correct. He pulled out an antivenom syringe and injected a tiny amount into the arms of both boys.

"Doc, you could also tell Ian and Natalie what poison Kristina's system has and what times they need to give the antivenom at," Jonah suggested.

Dr. Loven nodded and took the Kabras aside, telling them about it quietly. Ian and Natalie registered the information quickly and took the necessary antivenom, leaving it high on a shelf.

After the doctor had gone, Jonah said, "Dudes, it's 6:45. Aren't y'all hungry? Is pizza okay for dinner?"

"Pizza's always okay," Madison cracked. Her twin nodded in agreement. Nobody disagreed, not even Natalie, so Jonah went to the phone and ordered pizza.

Everyone slumped onto the couches as they ate, finishing quickly, both because they were hungry and because they wanted to know what was going on.

When all the pizzas were gone, Jonah continued Phoenix's story. When he got to the part about Kristina being Alistair's daughter, there were quite a few gasps.

"_Alistair's _daughter?! Are you sure?!" Sinead asked unbelievingly. "She wasn't at the funeral, I'm sure... but then, there were so many people there that she might have been..."

"Alistair always had a soft spot for children," Amy said quietly, but everyone heard her and stopped talking. "He did leave us on our own after we trusted him in the clue hunt quite a few times, but he reappeared. At the time of the hunt, Kristina must have been no more than ten. He probably missed her a lot... It also explains why he had such a huge mansion- it wasn't all for one person. There were probably a few Ekats living there, taking care of the child and making sure she remained anonymous. But... why did he hide her?"

"We don't know," Jonah said. "Phoenix didn't want her to talk about it in the car. Smart boy, because the driver turned out to be evil. When Phoenix got out of the car here, Kristina didn't follow, and when we found her she was unconscious and the driver had flown. But... Phoenix did say she told him that there was a reason behind it. Oh, and there was a note attached to her collar when we found her."

He walked over to a shelf and pulled down the tissue-wrapped package. "Here, pass it around, and try not to touch it. We thought maybe we could have it tested for fingerprints or something."

The note was passed around, and each person read it as it rested on the tissue. It came to Ned, Ted and Sinead last. All three's eyes narrowed as they read it. They looked at each other for one long moment.

"We think we might know who T is," Ted said.

Sinead nodded. "The Ekat branch isn't peaceful, even within itself. We have the smartest minds in history, and competition is fierce."

By now, everyone was listening to the three interestedly. "Go on," Ian said, leaning forward.

"Normally, Ekaterinas do not place much upon fantastical myths. But if it means they can be smarter and better recognized than their fellows, some will do anything," Ned continued. "There are lots of legends- some say there is a stream of bubbling water in the Sahara desert which, when drunk from, will give that Ekat a clear, focused mind, enabling them to work while others deal with daily distractions."

"Some say Katherine's long-lost necklace contains strong doses of the Ekat serum in the pendant," Ted said. "It's often called the Ekat Legacy. She left clues to it around the world- it's like the Ekaterinas' own clue hunt. We Starlings have never been interested in looking for the legacy, but apparently Alistair was."

"I'm guessing he only went on the clue hunt to get more clues to the Legacy," Sinead said. "Oh, he might have been interested in the main prize, the serum, but he was also looking for the Legacy."

"But who's T, then?" Amy asked.

"T isn't any one person," Sinead said. "They're a group of Ekats who detached themselves from the branch to look for the Legacy. They plan to use the serum for evil purposes- they're already smart, and making them extra-smart will be a big problem."

"Well, they're not exactly _evil,_" Ned amended. "Not intentionally. They're not like the Vespers, who wanted world domination. T members just want to be famous for their knowledge, so they'll experiment more and more. Sinead meant they're evil in the sense that, for example, if they need live people for their experiments, they won't hesitate to use live people. They'll break all kinds of human rights laws for their science, and nobody will be able to outsmart them 'cause they'll be so mega-smart." _  
_

"Wait. What does T stand for?" Hamilton asked.

"No one knows. They always sign themselves with a T," Sinead answered.

Natalie said slowly, "The fact that Katherine was able to keep a small part of her Ekat serum still intact after all these years is a miracle. Isabel and Vikram consumed their Lucian serum- I suppose they left some too, but no one as yet knows where."

All the Cahills sat in silence for a while, mulling over the information. Amy sighed. _My Madrigal duty never ends, does it?_


End file.
